Soldier On providing formerly homeless veterans a ray of sunshine
October 16th, 2009 by Tom Kessler
From Green Right Now Reports
Northampton, Mass.-based non-profit Soldier On, which will break ground this month on a limited-equity housing project for formerly homeless veterans, said the project will use photovoltaic technology supplied by Berkeley, Calif.-based Borrego Solar to supply electricity to its 39 apartments.
Berkshire Veterans Village will house formerly homeless veterans. (Image: Soldier On)
Berkshire Veterans Village in Pittsfield is intended to serve as a new national model for transitioning veterans from homelessness to home ownership. The Soldier On, which has been helping get veterans off the street since 1994, said a second limited-equity housing project is planned for Leeds. The organization said it eventually hopes to take the model to a national level.
Borrego, which has its East Coast office in Boston, designed a 40.32 kilowatt DC photovoltaic power generation system for the project. According to Borrego:
- The system will reduce carbon emissions by 71,012 lbs of CO2 annually.
- The reduction in carbon emissions is equivalent to the emissions from an average passenger car driving 135,625 miles every year for 30 years.
- This system will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 617 pounds over its life. Nitrogen oxides are a major contributor to smog and air-induced respiratory problems.
The housing project will give formerly homeless veterans the opportunity to become homeowners, in many cases for the first time in their lives. Veterans will have the opportunity to purchase an equity share that will be held in trust and will be available to them should they choose to move out, or will become part of their estate.
The housing units will be managed by the veterans who purchase equity in apartments. Those veterans will have completed a progression from Soldier On’s shelter in Leeds, Mass. to its transitional housing facility in Pittsfield. In the limited-equity housing project, they will continue to be surrounded by the services they need and the community of support Soldier On provides.
The Oct. 29 groundbreaking event for the project is scheduled to include as speakers Mass. Lieutenant Gov. Tim Murray and Stephen Coyle, CEO of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, along with Gordon Mansfield, former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.